Sunday, August 30, 2009

Last week's challenge at the Hero Blog was to add color to stamped images. I like to color my stamped images FAST so I decided to experiment with this...

This Glimmer Mist worked well covering my stamped images. I started with white cardstock and stamped several stars in black. Then I placed them in a box and started spraying....

I like how you can control the result with how much spray you apply. I cut the stars out and applied them to this layout...

The journaling reads,"You guys had just won battle of the bands and I remember thinking that when you four step on the stage its pure magic." The picture does not do justice to the shine it produces. Here is a close up shot...

There was a lot of negative space in between the stars so I put it to good use and punched out a few corner pieces...That's all I got for now. Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I met Alex (my step-son) when he was just ten years old. He was in the fifth grade. He just started his junior year of high school this week.....I feel like I blinked and he grew into a young man (who is now taller than me! lol). How did this happen? I wish time would slow down!

Monday, August 24, 2009

I truly believe that. So I thought it would be perfect to incorporate that philosophy when making Cards for Kate. (You can find details from THIS post) I love telling jokes with kids cards. They always seem to get a kick out of it. Here are some knock knock joke cards I created:

This one is for Kate...

and the inside reveals the punch line...This one is for Kate's sister, Olivia using the same concept with a different design....and the punch line...I used the swiss dot embossing folder, a favorite of mine, and then added a marker to highlight some of the dots to make it pop. A awesome tip I learned from Jennifer. She talks about it HERE.

And I also made one for Kate's brother, Will...You may remember these cards I did for the last Card Drive for Kids...There were many joke cards in the pile like this one...(I know I've already shared these here before but I thought I would again for the new readers to my blog.) That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

It's been awhile since I did a challenge but when I saw these yummy colors, I had to play along....and here is my card....

I stamped the "you're so sweet" sentiment from THIS set on white cardstock with black ink. Then I blended some Shabby Shutters Distress Ink on it to create green cardstock. I also added some clear sticklez to the clear metal rim tag before putting the chipboard piece on.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Hello friends. Thought I would pass on some info. about a new card drive, Cards for Kate.

Here is some info about Kate:About 6 weeks ago the life of the McRae family changed forever when their precious 5 year old daughter, Kate, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Dad (Aaron) is a pastor in Arizona and he and his wife, Holly have two other children, Will and Olivia. Of course this is devastating for the whole family and many are praying for them. (Go to www.prayforkate.com to learn more about this family and their struggle). Kate has a rough road ahead of her for quite awhile. When you hear their story you will want to do anything you can to help. And one thing we can do to help is to send cards to Kate and her family to encourage them, give them strength, and let them know how many people are thinking about and praying for them. And the most generous and kind people in the world are crafters so we thought we’d have a Cards for Kate Card Drive.

Think of how much it would encourage this family to receive cards from all over the world. You can simply send the cards to Jennifer. She will then box them up and pay to send them to Kate's parents.

The details:Cards can be for any member of Kate's family:*Kate (age 5) - The sweet girl who is battling cancer.

*Little brother Will.

*Bigger sister Olivia.

*Mom and Dad (Aaron and Holly)

-Cards can be anything cheery, encouraging, supportive, etc. (This family is a family of God, so for all you Christians out there, feel free to share messages of Faith.) Anyone can send a card - even your children!

-Please write a message in the card and sign your name and where you are from. On the card envelope, please write the name of who the card is for (Kate, Will, Olivia, Aaron and/or Holly). Also, please don't seal the envelope, as Kate's parents might want to preview cards before the kids see them.

-With your cards, please include a piece of paper with your name, address, email address and number of cards. We will keep these for picking out prizes. (See below.)

The cards should be sent to:

Jennifer McGuireCard Drive for Kate

PO Box 428612Cincinnati, Ohio 45242

Please send the cards to arrive by October 1st. And... how about some prizes as a thank you for participating? For all the cards Jennifer gets, she will pick random winners of some great prizes. Scrapbook Bakery is a proud sponser. Check out her blog HERE for more details. Jana and Kristina are helping Jennifer with this drive. You can check out there blogs HERE and HERE. Please keep in mind that winners will be pick based on piece of paper you include with your cards with your name and info. So, be sure to include it!

I've already started on my cards. Here is one I made for Kate's parents:(the sentiment says,you're in my thoughts and prayers)

Hope you can create some cards too. Please pass this information on to as many crafters that you know. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

After scrolling my blog recently I've realized that I haven't shared many layouts. I still scrapbook lots but don't seem to take the time to photograph them. Sorry. So here are two that I worked on this past weekend. (PLEASE forgive the bad photos. Too tired to redo them.)

Both layouts are about Alex's music gigs. It seems like every weekend this summer they have had a gig. They have worked so hard and I am so happy to see their hard work paying off. They got booked for their high school to play at the football games! They are so excited.

This LO's photos are from a BEAUTIFUL park down the street. Alex and I go to this park a lot to walk the trails and I remember last year him saying how cool it would be to play at the amphitheater there. Just a dream and then this year he did. So cool.....

The next one was from a local festival. They played for three hours and was rockin' the crowd. I was going for a grungy look on this one. Sprayed some Tattered Angels Spray for the background (that stuff is so fun!) and cut some metal for the stars to sit in and used Alex's black duct tape for a top and bottom border. And again, used some of Jennifer's cool alpha stamps from Studio Calico. I really like the end result because there isn't a lot of teen lines out there, so I just make it up as I go. :) You can check out Alex's band HERE.

Monday, August 17, 2009

I think a little rest and relaxation was all I needed to reclaim my creative mojo. (and maybe using Jennifer's stamps! lol) The trip was just what I needed. So fun and I have a new love, Papertrey Ink Stamps. Jennifer was kind enough to let me use some of hers.

The card above uses the umbrella from their Scattered Showers set. How cool are those raindrops? (They are from Autumn Leaves.) If you look hard enough you can see there are clear ones floating on the card too.

I also made a mini card set using their Everyday Button Bits.....A closer look.....So fun. I have lots more creative shares from the trip so I will be back soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Hi everyone. Feeling much better and thought I would post. First things first, THANK YOU so much for all the encouraging comments. I felt the love and it was much needed. You guys rock! The winner of the goodies goes to STACY C! (Stacy, email me with your address.)

I thought I would share some projects using one of my favorite companies: American Crafts.

A layout: (The journaling reads, "We've been together five years and my heart still races when I see you.")

Here is a birthday card set using AC gift tags as the card, removing the string and replacing it with a brad. Then I attached them to a flat scalloped card...

and for my project, I did a garden theme:

A closer look at each item...

You can see more of my American Crafts Projects HERE. Well, I am off to pack. I am going out of town for the weekend to my favorite retreat to try and get my creative mojo back. So glad Jennfer and Jana asked me to come. I'll be home on Sunday and I'll post then. Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Sorry for being a bad blogger but things have just been in a whirlwind lately. My heart is heavy with a lot on my plate and lots of rejection flying at me which is killing any positive attitude I have left. Why am I telling you all this? Well because I want to be honest and I have to remind myself it is okay to be raw. I love this industry but sometimes it can give you a blow below the belt with all the rejection. It just makes you feel like you're simply not talented enough sometimes. So I have decided to take a bit of a break from everything but I will be back soon. I just need to breath. But while I'm gone you shouldn't have to suffer so I am doing a GIVEAWAY! Just leave a comment to this post with an inspirational or favorite quote. I will draw a winner sometime next week. Thanks for reading!